The purpose of this study was to acquire an understanding of how
nurses' self-relation (view of themselves as nurses) was influenced in connection with implementation of a nursing theory, the sympathy-acceptance-understanding-competence model for confirming nursing. This
model was developed by Gustafsson and Pörn. Twenty-two nurses' written statements evaluating mentoring during the six-month implementation process in elder care, were analyzed hermeneutically with the hypothetic-deductive method. An action-theoretic and confirmatory approach was used for facilitating theoretically specified hypotheses. The nurses increased their ability to describe nursing theoretically and gained a foundation of common nursing values. The results provided an understanding of how nurses' self-relation was strengthened by becoming theoretically competent.